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There is a good chance that I will soon be teaching four new people how to play Pathfinder soon. However, I have a rather large tendency to not only go off on tangents, but to attempt to explain everything at once. What I am looking for from the members of the Paizo community are condensed versions of aspects of the rules for teaching new people in a straightforward, simplified manner that I will be able to simply read off to them. This way, I can help them easily understand the rules, and hopefully avoid confusing them with my need to have them understand everything right away.
With this reply, I am assuming that it is fantasy role-playing itself, not just Pathfinder rules, that is new to these players. Congrats on getting potential new players into our addiction ...err...hobby.
As a school teacher, I can tell you that it's much easier to teach a group of people if they're all learning roughly the same thing at the same time. To that end, I would suggest starting off with a few one-off, two or three encounter dungeon crawls (not even adventures, literally dungeon crawls) and have everybody make a fighter. Spend time helping everybody make their characters, and include only the following mechanics:
attack and damage
straight armour class (no flat-footed, touch, etc)
initiative
hit points (zero = dead)
movement
Leave out:
spells, skills, feats, experience awards, combat maneuvers, etc.
For some interest, though, have each player make a different type of fighter (sword and board, archer, two-weapon fighter (pretend they have the feat), etc so that that players can see different forms of combat at work.
While this makes for a fairly dry session, it gives them a chance to experience rolling dice, track hit points, and develop basic tactics. Then, enhance their characters with feats, skills, surprise rounds/flat-footed and run the dungeon again.
Next, have them all roll up a spell-casting class like cleric with a limited spell selection and run the dungeon again.
This sort of graduated learning is how most subjects are taught; strip it to bare bones one plus one and then work up to calculus.
Owner - Johnny Scott Comics and Games
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I agree with what Nazard says, but I would suggest providing pregenerated characters so they can get a feel for the game flow and the abilities of each type of character class. Maybe you could have them switch characters during the session so they can try each character class.
After they see the game "in action" and have an idea of each class's abilities, they can work toward creating their own characters.
I can tell you from experience that interest tends to wane if you spend the whole session on character creation. People tend to want to jump in and play the game rather than learn about its various options/rules in an abstract way.
Hope this helps!
I agree with what Nazard says, but I would suggest providing pregenerated characters so they can get a feel for the game flow and the abilities of each type of character class. Maybe you could have them switch characters during the session so they can try each character class.
After they see the game "in action" and have an idea of each class's abilities, they can work toward creating their own characters.
I can tell you from experience that interest tends to wane if you spend the whole session on character creation. People tend to want to jump in and play the game rather than learn about its various options/rules in an abstract way.
Hope this helps!
Excellent suggestion! Have the "classic foursome" ready to go. Go into a small dungeon and take on some goblins or an orc or two. Include some easy obstacles; a trap, something to climb, something that can be solved with a spell, something to flank, etc.
Each obstacle gives you a chance to explain how to make a skill check, do movement, cast a spell, help another, etc., when it's time to do it and the players really want to.
"You can see two goblins standing at the entrance to the cave. They're wearing ratty-looking armor, they're wearing their dogslicers and have crossbows ready to go. They seem to be arguing about something."
"I speak goblin! Can I hear them?"
"Roll a perception check. Roll the d20 and add your perception bonus. It's under skills." (Let him make it, if you can fudge it.)
"Yes. The one on the left is saying 'I'm tired of little girl meat. This time I get to eat the little boy!'
The other one says, 'No, it's my turn! Girls are too sweet. Boys are nice and chewy!'"
The players will probably figure out that the wizard can cast sleep. It's a medium range spell, lasts a minute, and the goblins make will saves (of course they fail). They can coup de gras the sleeping goblins and go into the dark, spooky cave...
The characters kill the rest of the goblins and whatever else after a few obstacles, right before they're about to toss the kids in the boiling stewpot, go back to the village, and get a heroes' welcome. Easy-peasy!
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All excellent suggestions so far. Two of these people have played once or twice before, I believe, but it has been quite a while for both of them. The other two are...not completely new, but have no real experience playing tabletop games. All of them are familiar with tactical board games, etc, and are avid fantasy fans.
They got the idea after watching Conan the Barbarian at one o'clock in the morning.
They got the idea after watching Conan the Barbarian at one o'clock in the morning.
LOL!
That stuff will rot your mind! XD
They got the idea after watching Conan the Barbarian at one o'clock in the morning.LOL!
That stuff will rot your mind! XD
True enough, both films were terrible... BUT Arnold got to deliver one of the greatest lines ever in fantasy film:
Boss: Conan, what is the greatest thing in life?
Ahhhnold: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their women!
I've always found customised 'solo adventures' are great ways to integrate new players into a campaign.
If they are new to RPGs (or your system at least) make the session really simple, allow them to use each of their skills and attack options at least once and tailor the encounters to play into that character's strong point (and make them really easy of course). I did a mini session once with a friend of mine who i knew from Jiu-Jitsu. He had never played an RPG before so I made the session revolve around his samurai character gaining his 'grades'. he had to go through sparring sessions with different weapons (learning to make attack rolls and the differences between weapons) and make finishing touches to his sword (using craft checks). At the end he had to demonstrate what he learned and gained his 'yellow belt' (levelled up). By tying the game to what the player was familiar with in real life it made the session really interesting and engaging.
This is also handy to bring new players into a campaign (or kick start a campaign) if the player is already experienced. Just make the session a little harder and throw some plot hooks in too :)
I think the advice you've gotten so far is spot on. Also, since I recently introduced a newbie (with NO RP experience under her belt) to the game, I'd add some other recommendations.
* Highlight in red or some other showy color the most important stuff on their character sheets so their eyes are drawn to the most important stuff.
* Simplify their dice pile - leave them with only the dice they absolutely need. If their character doesn't use d12 or d4, pull them out. They just confuse people who are used to six sided dice.
* Discuss the game concepts particularly the idea that despite the fact that it is an 'imaginary' game there are concrete 'laws' they operate within... such as "If it ain't on the page, it ain't on the stage" meaning that whatever ISN'T on their character sheet doesn't exist. So if the players think they might want to tie up that wicked goblin, they better have bought rope. A long time ago, I was playing with a total newbie and this kind of thing occurred. She thought 'fantasy RPG' was the same as playing 'make-believe' so she wanted her elf fighter to use 'Elf Magic' to subdue the baddie. If your players are more savvy than that - great - but don't expect they understand the conventions of Roleplaying if they've never done it.
* Have a tutorial on the game before you actually play - run simple mock combats to let the players practice the combat mechanic. Then do a combat demo with Initiative. Then talk about how those are modified by the character stats. This let's the players know how everything inter-relates.
* When you start playing, simplify the rules. Run a few combats with no AoO and no terrain effects modifying movement. When they are comfortable with combat, tell them you are now using more 'advanced' rules... drop in terrain mods and firing into combat. Later, add AoOs, etc.
* Be willing to stop in the middle of the game to discuss tactics and rules when you see they are about to make mistakes based on ignorance of the rules.
* Periodically ask them if there is anything they don't quite get. If they say 'yes' start your next session with a tutorial on the subject. If your newbies are anything like mine, the first thing they will be scratching their heads over will be stacking different Feats with the Standard, Full, and Move actions. Even though you spend less time actually playing in the short-term (because of all the discussion and tutorials) the players will enjoy the game more over the mid-term because they will have confidence in what they have learned.
Consider this first 'campaign' a learning environment. Chances are the players will not luck into classes they absolutely love.. but as they explore your world, learn the rules, and see the possibilities you'll be getting them ready for your 2nd 'real' campaign where they can make more informed character choices.
Hope that helps.
Lets not forget one of the greatest scenes in maybe ALL of cinema: Arnold punching a camel in the face while drunk. Classic.
True enough, both films were terrible... BUT Arnold got to deliver one of the greatest lines ever in fantasy film:
He he! True! But that camel had it coming...
mark
need casters? the spontaneous ones are easier to keep track of. and they have better social skills.
most of the non-casting classes are easy enough to adapt to. especially fighter and rogue, the former more than the latter.
i'd recommend no lawful good pcs for newbies. it is such a restricting alignment. your best friends are the less restricting ones, like true neutral for example.
don't do what i did off the bat.
my first d&d character was "effectively" an anime flavored gestalt rogue/sorceress in an epic level high powered monty haul cheese game that lasted a single session. the group broke up, so it was effectively a one shot. the character would have been better portrayed as a swordsage, but the dm was afraid of the book of 9 swords, psionics and magic of incarnum. he had no qualms about clerics stacking nightsticks though.
The most important piece of advice I can give regarding teaching people the game is don't give your players numbers until they ask for them. For example, when explaining Power Attack, tell them it lets you hit harder but miss more often. Only go into the specifics of numbers when one of the players asks for them.
Beyond that, I find that it helps to think of things in a few broad categories, and work on them one at a time. Your results may vary, but here are the ones I use:
1 - "RPG basics" Attributes/skills, race/class, and the core mechanic (which for Pathfinder is the d20+something to beat a DC mechanic). These are the fundamental mechanical concepts of a role-playing game, and any players needs to understand what they represent before they can learn more. Fortunately, these concepts are shared with a lot of computer games and even some board games, so most people grasp the concept easily.
2 - "Derived statistics" This is where you cover things like HP, saves, AC, Initiative, and so forth. Remember the first rule, and don't try to explain to them exactly how all of these things are calculated the first time. Just concentrate on explaining what each of them represent.
3 - "Combat" It is often helpful to run a short trial combat at this point, and explain in more detail things like turn sequence, action types, tactical movement, and if someone is interested in them combat maneuvers.
4 - "Special" This is where you get into feats and class abilities, also known as the stuff that causes exceptions or changes to what you just explained. If your players are building characters rather than having pre-gens, this is the point where you want to be extra observant for someone getting overwhelmed by options. If you notice that, go to their basic character concept and make a suggestion for them.
5 - "Stuff" This is where you explain equipment and spells. In terms of mechanics, the explanation will be the same as #3, but it's important to keep spells and equipment separate because the choices available increase drastically. For the initial session, you probably don't want to worry about equipment costs, spellbooks, or encumbrance, but take a moment to identify that these things exist for later.
6 - "The Math" After your tutorial first session, or even during the final parts of it if the players seem to be grasping everything well, it's time to start explaining all of the numbers that go into everything.
Addendum: when explaining spells, the fact that spells use a 0-9 level system that doesn't match up to character level is one of those things that we take for granted that can really mess up new players.
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This is all excellent advice. You guys have really come through on this. Thanks so much!
Anyone have any ideas on good starter adventures to run some pre-gens through?
Temple of Elemental Evil...
Oh wait. You want them to enjoy themselves. Hmm. Try Hallow's Last Hope. Free, first level rather short. What's not to like?